Undoubtedly

How to spell undoubtedly

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce undoubtedly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does undoubtedly mean?

1. adverbWithout any doubt; certainly and beyond reasonable question.

Undoubtedly in a sentence

• The new tax rules will undoubtedly affect small businesses.

• She is undoubtedly the most experienced engineer on the team.

Where does undoubtedly come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The heart of this word is doubt, which English took from the Old French douter in the 1200s, itself descended from the Latin dubitare, meaning 'to waver, to hesitate, to be uncertain'. That Latin verb was related to duo 'two', carrying the idea of a mind torn between two possibilities. Curiously, the original Middle English spelling was douten, with no letter b at all; the silent b was inserted by Renaissance scholars who wanted the spelling to display its Latin pedigree from dubitare. The negative prefix un- 'not' was attached to the past participle doubted, and the adverbial -ly was added to give the modern sense 'without question, certainly'. That scholarly, etymological b is precisely the letter that trips writers up, since it is written but never pronounced.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• doubt (waver, hesitate)
• -ed (past participle/adjective)
• -ly (adverb)